Tuesday, January 23, 2018

I’ve most likely covered this at times in other blogs. I
might have even written something with the same title, though likely not on
this scale or with the level of introspection I’m going to put into this post.
The reason I often come back to this topic, is that it is often on my mind. As
a writer, I frequently receive comments or read articles or simply have a
thought that prompt me to think about this topic. The answer isn’t always
exactly the same, the origin story of my writing is the same, but the reasons
or the important circumstances for that period of time might lead to respond
differently. This series on “Why I Write” will take the reader from my origin
story through many of the reasons I’ve landed on. Some of those reasons will be
recurring and others will be one’s I’ve landed on and while I’ve remembered
them, they might have only applied to that time in my life. Mostly I want to
connect with the reader in a way that prompts them to consider why they write
or perhaps help them experience writing differently.

Origins of a Writer

I write because I can’t draw. That statement is anathema to
a lot of people. It comes across relatively strong and sure, but at the same
time dismissive. You’re reading it but let me be clear I’m saying it in a way
that should convey total confidence in you that I mean what I say. I didn’t
grow up dreaming about being a writer. I loved to read, but I only fell on
writing because I failed time and again at drawing. I grew up dreaming about
being a comic book artist.

From the time I could mow a lawn, wash a car, and have a
paper route; I read comic books. My mom bought my brother and I comics earlier which
started my addiction to them. But she couldn’t afford it very often, so it was
more of a luxury. When I was ten or eleven, I began doing small extra chores
for money. Mowing our massive front and back yard for five dollars, washing the
car for three dollars, I got paper route that paid something like forty-five
dollars a month. There were a lot of things I bought: baseball and basketball
cards, G.I. Joes, gum and candy, but comic books were at the top of the list.

I grew up in what I still consider to be the comic book
revival. Comics fell off in the 80’s some in quality outside of books like Dark Knight and Watchmen there was a lot of garbage coming from the DC and Marvel.
That combined with how poorly artists were paid for their work caused a major
move in the comic book industry right at the time I was able to start buying
comics with my own money. In the 90’s well-known artists left DC and Marvel and
started their own studios. Image comics was the collective these studios worked
under, and I feel in love with nearly every release Image put out in their
early days.

Artists like Jim Lee, Todd McFarlane, Marc Silvestri, and
Whilce Portracio left major publications, to create new heroes and villains
with new artwork and coloring. Spawn,
WildC.A.T.s, Cyberforce, and Wetworks along
with numerous other titles were born. Unbeknownst to me they brought with them
one of the best comic book writers of all time, Chris Claremont. I didn’t care
about that, all I cared about was the art.

With a great burning desire I invested every leftover cent I
had in sketchbooks, mechanical pencils, woodcase pencils, even colored pencils
all in a vain attempt to create my own comic book. I checked out every book on
drawing the library had (this was pre-internet so the library was a big part of
my childhood) and began trying to teach myself how to draw. I went through
hundreds of pages of dogs, cars, dinosaurs, sharks, and other random sketchable
objects. Weeks turned into months and I flipped through sketchbooks, my heart sank
as I turned each page. There was no improvement. I could sketch rough animals,
was slightly better at buildings and cars, but when it came to people I was
horrendous. There was no other way to put it, I couldn’t draw a person to save
my life. If I couldn’t draw people, there was no way I could create my own
comic book.

In a fit of anger and sadness I carried all of the
sketchbooks to the trash and tossed them in. Took the leftovers and gave them
to my brother. Returned the books on drawing and on a whim checked out Fellowship of the Ring. I barricaded
myself in my room and came out when I was done with the series. A new light in
my eyes. I went from a fantasy world of comic books to a fantasy world of
words. Characters leapt off the page, the thousands of hours reading comics and
attempting to draw had only honed my already well-developed imagination; and
they enabled me to see every person, place, and thing in Middle Earth as if I
was standing right there.

My brother had taken up the pencils and expanded to paints
and other mediums. Where I failed at art, he flourished. Inside I was jealous
and a bit angry, but he was my best friend and after a while I simply let it
go. Art slowly faded as I finished more and more books, before long I was
writing, albeit poorly. Derivative stories of superheroes or fantasy wizards
and warriors. My brother and I began talking about collaborating on our own
comic book. I’d write it and he’d illustrate it. We never did anything beyond a
few panels; it is something I still wish we’d accomplished.

My writing overflowed in nearly every aspect of my life. I
had always loved essays and reports, not I craved them. I read voraciously
throughout junior high and high school and wrote pages upon pages. Everything
from fantasy, to reports on small battles in World War II, to poetry, and even a
few terrible rap lyrics. I wrote everything by hand until my junior year of
high school when I bought an electric typewriter. I’d write by hand when I was
out, then take over on the typewriter when I got home. I’d use a three-hole punch
and put the typed pages in a binder with the handwritten pages.

Looking back on my origin story, I’m no longer sad and angry
about not being able to draw. I found a different medium of creation and
expression. Writing is a part of me, it’s integral to who I am and who I’ve
become. It’s grown and changed with me as time has gone on. I went from
thinking of it mostly as a tool that helped me through school and then later on
to secure work to now considering it something of a trusted companion.

Writing is something that transcends the simple task of
putting pen to paper. It’s more than arranging letters into words and words
into sentences. For me it’s becomes a way to put myself into the very stories
and poems I write. I leave part of myself in every piece. It’s not a conscious
decision I make, it just ends up that way. What I write is important to me and
so I take pride in it, but I also understand that what I write MIGHT be
important to others. I just hope that others who read my pieces take away
something from it, and maybe they get to know me a little bit in the process
too.

Friday, January 19, 2018

A new year and a new semester, and unlike past semesters and
years this time I’ve got some cool new gear to show off! So I’m going to walk
you through my previous loadout compared to my new loadout. Hopefully I don’t
bore you along the way, but here we go.

I’ve been using something similar to the CamelBak H.A.W.G.500 since I started going back to school in 2015. The pack itself is from 2007,
but it doesn’t show a bit of age. The hydration system is still pristine, all the
MOLLE is still intact, the plastic snap/buckle system all still function,
basically the bag is a BEAST. It’s slightly smaller than a run of the mill
backpack/bookbag in both width and depth, but I’ve not found it hard to use
except last semester when I literally had a class that required a book too
large to fit. For that reason I went with a two bag system last year which
worked well, but this was still my MAIN bag.

I’ll go down my must have’s that I loaded it out with. MiquelRius
notebooks, I’ve talked about these at length before and will continue. They are
far more difficult to find, in fact, I’ve yet to purchase any this year but
last year I had four of the 5-Subject notebooks that I filled. I also kept a
smattering of 15-20 pens (ballpoint and fountain), a REALLY cheap mechanical
pencil, and some random colored pencils in my bag at all times. I carry iPhone
accessories in a small cordura pouch from Yellow Birch Outfitters. It holds a
charger, cord, and headphones perfectly and has a really small profile. That’s
about all of the normal stuff from last year, I’ll get into more detail on my
current loadout.

So recently Rickshaw Bagworks released their Cosmo briefcase.
I love Mark’s designs, they are elegant but supremely functional and after
looking at all the color combinations I knew I had to have one. I chose the
Moss-Orange combination. It literally showed up today, so I’m a bit psyched
about it still. Regardless it’s freaking AMAZING. If you want all the
down-and-dirty details on the bag I HIGHLY recommend checking out Matthew Morse’s
review of it. He did a solid job of cataloging the features and maybe I’m not
as big of a bag snob as he is, because I don’t really have anything negative to
say about the Cosmo. I have a 13 inch Macbook Air, and while I would like the
13 inch sleeve it would only be so I could remove just sleeve by itself. When
used with it attached in the bag, the 15 inch sleeve works quite well. The fact
that I can comfortably carry a 5-subject notebook and several books plus my
laptop with me in a small briefcase/messenger bag is DOPE. My only regret is
that it doesn’t have Velcro on the outside for all my patches, but it is
supposed to be a little bit more professional so the patches will have to
remain on my backpack.

As for the rest of my wonderful loadout. I’ve already
mentioned my Macbook Air, it’s also new because this semester was the first
where two separate professors said we’d need laptops in class. My old laptop
did what old laptops do and died. So I used my student discount and grabbed
this lovely gem. It’s fast, has the basics a student like me needs (word
processing, internet, and a battery with LONG life). I decked it out with a
Mosiso olive snap on case for added protection.

While I’m still search for an adequate replacement for my
MiquelRius notebooks I’ve settled on far inferior Mead 5-Subject notebooks.
They are NOT fountain pen friendly at all, so I’ve been forced (not really) to
use pencils and rollerballs. For that I use a Zebra M-301 mechanical pencil, I’ll
replace that with a Karas Pen Co pencil soon. I also carry a black Retrakt
R-Type that I’ve swapped in a Pilot Precise V5-RT refill, it’s really the only
rollerball refill worth using in my opinion unless you’re willing to spend
money on Ohto rollerballs which are also superb. I do carry a grey Fountain K
with EF titanium nib and a few other fountain pens (Sheaffer Snorkel, Omas
Extra, INK, Carolina Pen Company custom) those are all currently uninked, and I’ll
be adding my Lamy 2000 to the bag when I get home.

I have a couple of Field Notes notebooks, specifically the
Starbucks larger-format with grid paper in the outside pocket but those two
will go away and be replaced by a Nanami Seven Seas Crossfield, literally the
best A5 notebook on the market. Perhaps the best notebook period, in my
opinion. The paper is simply outstanding, the dot grid is perfect for writing
or drawing (I’m not an artist but if I wanted to I wouldn’t’ have an issue
using this to draw in). The lay flat design is comfortable. It really is just a
superb notebook all the way around.

Besides that I have transferred my cordura pouch from Yellow
Birch over. There’s also some random things in the Cosmo I won’t get into, you
don’t need to know how many Ibuprofen or Zyrtec I haul around. I’ll likely find
a few more things to add to it, but overall I’m super happy with the bag. It’s
comfortable to carry with the padded shoulder strap and has just the right
amount of space to carry what I need on a daily basis as I wrap up my last
in-class semester before my internship. If you’re in the market for a quality
EDC briefcase or messenger bag, this is the one!

Friday, January 12, 2018

UPDATE

THIS FORM IS OFFICIALLY CLOSED, WE HAVE REACHED AND SURPASSED OUR GOAL. IN THE EVENT YOU STILL WISH TO PROVIDE FEEDBACK FOR THE SAKE OF GIVING US INFORMATION ON YOUR WRITING PREFERENCES, YOU CAN DO SO, HOWEVER AS OF 1/15/18 AT 900 AM MST WE HAVE CLOSED THE FORM AND RESPONDENTS AFTER THAT TIME WILL NOT RECEIVE THE BELOW EMAILS.

FOR THOSE THAT RESPONDED BEFORE WE CLOSED THE FORM, NOTIFICATION EMAILS WILL BE SENT 1/15/18 TO WINNERS PROVIDING THEM WITH DETAILS ON SHIPPING AND OTHER INCIDENTALS. NON-WINNERS WILL ALSO RECEIVE AN EMAIL ON 1/15/18 THANKING THEM FOR THEIR PARTICIPATION. EMAILS WILL BE SENT PRIOR TO 4PM MST.

As a company we do a LOT of giveaways. Whether that's traditional raffle giveaways, social media giveaways of various types, hidden pens, and other random giveaways; it's something we've done for several years. But we've never done giveaways on the scale you're going to see in 2018. For starters, we're running monthly random YouTube subscriber giveaways. If you didn't know about that, you've still got time to get in on that action. In February we're going to be adding monthly random Newsletter subscriber giveaways AND monthly random Facebook follower giveaways. We have yet to release the giveaway items for the Newsletter or Facebook giveaways in February, those will details are forthcoming, sometime before January 29th. We will also be doing random giveaways to members of the Karas Pen Club throughout the year, these will mainly be limited edition or very small batch/one-off items. If my math is correct that will be roughly 45 giveaways, but that's only the tip of the Giveaway Iceberg.

Our big announcement in terms of giveaways will involve a little more than simply subscribing to one of our social media channels. There will be a form you will need to complete that we'd like to get some feedback on to better serve our current and future customers. However, it's going to be worth it because the first 500 people that fill out the form will receive a free pen (one entry per person, duplicates will be deleted). Yes you read that right, we're going to giveaway 500 pens! No they won't be damaged pens, factory seconds, pens we bought from Target, or pens we found on the street. We're giving away Karas Pen Co pens. They will be assembled by our assembly staff and shipped out once you complete THIS FORM.

The form is only going to be used internally. Your information will not be given away or sold. We are not asking for any sensitive information beyond a name, shipping address, and an age range. The rest of the form is specifically focused on your preferences in terms of writing instruments. We really want to get a good idea on what YOU want to use, what YOU like to use, and what YOU'D like to see us do. That's not to say we'll be able to implement exactly what you are telling us, but when possible we'd like to use your ideas and feedback to potentially shape new product designs and releases. Are we getting something out of this? Absolutely, we are getting direct feedback, market research per se, but you're getting the chance to win a free pen and the possibility of seeing your writing instrument desires more better served. We hope you see it as a win-win.

So please, we'd like you to fill out the above form, it's fifteen required questions, one paragraph for your direct ideas that is not required, and some required information about you, the respondent. Make sure you fill out the form BEFORE you send the link to your friends and family members so you can get in earlier on the giveaway pens since we only have 500 of them. But we would like you to share the link to as many people as you can think of, especially people you don't normally associate with being "pen people". We want their feedback as well, and together we might be able to convert them to the "dark side" of Pen Nerd-dom.

Thank you for being such an integral part of Karas Pen Co and what we do. For taking the time to read this and complete the form and for being a part of our future as we go into 2018!

The journey continues this year to new and amazing places; trust me you won't want to miss what we have coming this year!